Politics: US and Cuba Talk to Establish Embassies

Cuba and the United States are continuing to discuss the opening of embassies in Washington, D.C. and Havana. The countries will begin a third round of high-level talks this Monday that are aimed at reaching an agreement to open embassies in each other’s capitals next month, according to a statement made by a senior leader in the State Department. The US Assistant Secretary of State, Roberta Jacobson, will travel to Havana to me with Josefina Vidal, a Cuban leader. These talks followed the announcement by President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro on December 17th where they had agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and normalize bilateral ties after more than a half-century of hostility between the two countries. Cuba has said, however, that it sees no point in having diplomatic relations with the US until they remove Cuba from their list of state sponsors of terrorism. Obama has ordered the State Department to review the list.